Tibetan Medicine

Tibetan Medicine

Tibetan Medicine

illustrated in original texts

presented and translated

by

the Ven. Rechung Rinpoche

Jampal Kunzang

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS

Berkeley and Los Angeles

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA PRESS

Berkeley and Los Angeles, California

ISBN: 0-520-03048-6

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 72-85513

© The Wellcome Trust, 1973

California Paperback Edition, 1976

This work is also published in the United Kingdom

by the Wellcome Institute of the History of Medicine

Printed in the United States of America

Contents 1

Contents 1

Preface

Introduction

History of Tibetan Medicine

Tibetan Medicine

Bibliography of European Works on Tibetan Medicine

The Life of the Great Physician Saint gYu-thog Yon-tan mGon-po

Glossary

Index of Medical Topics

Preface

THE CHIEF part of this book is a translation of the biography of the Elder gYu-thog Yon-tan mGon-po, the famous Court Physician of King Khri- sron-lde-btsan who lived during the eighth century A.D. The Elder gYu-thog Yon-tan mGon-po visited India three times. He met and had discussions with many learned Pandits, and thus widened his knowledge of Buddhism and especially of medicine. On his return to Tibet he spread medical science throughout the country and shared his knowledge with many.

For the preservation of our Tibetan culture I had the great desire to translate books on Tibetan Medicine, as well as to translate the Biography of the Elder gYu-thog Yon-tan mGon-po, and thus approached Dr. F. N. L. Poynter, Director of the Wellcome Institute of the History of Medicine, with the idea. Dr. Poynter very kindly took a keen interest in my suggestion and placed it before the Wellcome Trustees. The Trustees most generously accepted my request and kindly made it possible for me to carry on my work by awarding me a Fellowship to start my research work.

The first block print of the Biography of the Elder gYu-thog Yon-tan mGon-po was made by Dar-mo sMan-pa bLo-bzan Chhos-grags who was the Court Physician of the Fifth Dalai Lama. Dar-mo sMan-pa acquired the manuscript of the Biography of the Elder gYu-thog Yon-tan mGon-po from a descendant of the latter, whose name was Lhun-grub bKra-shis. Having corrected the manuscript, Dar-mo sMan-pa had the first block prints made during the seventeenth century. Until the Communist Chinese occupied Tibet the blocks were preserved at the Lhasa Zhol par-khang (printing house). This is the text used for the present translation (India Office Library Lhasa J 12). It is printed on both sides of 149 leaves, each 51.5 by 10 cm or 21.35 by 4.15 inches, with six lines on each side. A second print was later made in sDe-dge in the district of Kham. The date is unknown.

In the Introduction I have included the following:

(a) The History of Tibetan Medicine from its origin up to modern times, which has not been written in English before.

(b) A brief account of the Commentary on the bShad-rgyud, written by sDe-srid Sans-rgyas rGya-mTs’o, which is called Lapislazuli Rosary.

(c) A brief account of the two important chapters from the Phyi-rgyud;

1 .e. the examination of the pulse and the urine, forming the basis of Tibetan medicine and medical practice.

(d) A series of Anatomy diagrams.

First and foremost I owe my deepest gratitude to the Wellcome Institute of the History of Medicine for enabling me to achieve my wish to carry out and complete this work. The Wellcome Institute has contributed a great deal towards the preservation of Tibetan culture, since much has been lost since the occupation by the Communist Chinese of Tibet.

My greatest thanks go to Miss Marianne Winder, Keeper of Oriental Manuscripts in the Wellcome Institute, for her unfailing assistance and help throughout my work of translation. Miss Winder, a scholar, has knowledge of several languages including Sanskrit, Pali and Tibetan. I was very fortunate to have had her assistance, and it was indeed a pleasure to work with her.

My gratitude goes to the two Tibetan doctors, Dr. hjam-dbyans Legs-pa’i bLo-gros from Ladakh and Dr. hjam-dbyans Sen-ge from sDe-dge in Kham, whom I consulted in order to clarify my doubts and difficulties during the translation of the Commentary to the bShad-rgyud and the Phyi-rgyud.

I thank Rai Bhadur Densapa, a learned Buddhist scholar, for giving me the loan of his manuscripts from his vast collection of rare manuscripts for reference during my work.

I should also like to thank Rhenock Kazi Tse Ten Tashi, Sikkim, who has assisted me greatly in identifying the botanical names.

I thank the India Office Library, London, for lending the Wellcome Institute the block print of the Biography of the Elder gYu-thog Yon-tan mGon-po.

Last but not least I must thank Yapshi Pheunkhang Sey Gompo Tsering for his help and assistance in the collection of materials.

RECHUNG RINPOCHE

JAMPAL KUNZANG

PART I

Introduction

by

MARIANNE WINDER

THE BIOGRAPHY of the great physician-saint gYu-thog Yon-tan mGon-po is the first complete Tibetan medical work ever to be translated into a European language. The only other extant translations are parts of the rGyud-bzhi (Four Treatises) into Russian and five chapters out of 120 of Vagbhata’s work into English. Both these are originally Sanskrit works while gYu-thog’s Biography is an original Tibetan work. It shows the poetic and imaginative features characteristic of Tibetan literature.

The Sanskrit original of the rGyud-bzhi was probably written about A.D. 400 but it was lost and only survives in Tibetan and Mongolian translations. The Mongolian translation was derived from the Tibetan. The translators into Tibetan were Vairochana and Zla-ba mNon-dgah* in the eighth century A.D. The translation into Russian of the First Treatise published by Dambo Ulyanov in 1901 is stated by Korvin-Krasinski (see Bibliography) to be unintelligible. The translation of abridgments of the First and Second Treatises into Russian by A. Pozdne’ev was done from the Mongolian translation of the Tibetan translation of the Sanskrit, and was published in 1908. Klaus Vogel’s edition of five chapters of Vagbhata’s Ashtangahrdayasamhitd in Sanskrit and Tibetan and translation into English was published by the Deutsche Morgenlandische Gesellschaft in 1965.

The History of Tibetan Medicine in the present volume has been culled from Tibetan sources and, while myth and legend is blended with it, as in western mediaeval history, the dates are precise as they are always related to the reigns of kings whose dates are known. This is very different from Indian medical history where the dates assumed by different historians vary by hundreds and even thousands of years. Furthermore, Tibet having been cut off from much of the rest of the world effectively for centuries, an uninterrupted tradition in medicine has been preserved, and it is fortunate indeed

* Skt. Candrabhinandana.

that the Venerable Rechung Rinpoche, himself the Incarnation of Rech- ungpa who told the story of the great Yogi Milarepa (A.D. 1140-1223), is able to pass it on to the West.

Racially the Tibetans resemble their Chinese and Burmese, and of course also Nepalese, Bhutanese, Sikkimese and Assamese neighbours but amongst themselves they vary considerably in shape of head, stature, build and so on. This is not surprising if one realizes that a population of three million people was scattered over 700,000 square miles divided by huge mountain ranges.

The earliest inhabitants we know of probably practised the shamanism prevalent in the whole of Northern Asia. The Tibetan form of this was called Bon religion. The small pockets of this preserved here and there up to the time of the Communist invasion were strongly influenced by Buddhism and are not likely to reflect much of the original practices. Conversely, Tibetan Buddhism has been influenced by the Bon substrate.

In the seventh century A.D. Buddhism was introduced into Tibet, and has had a tremendous influence on the population and its way of life ever since. For most of the time one-fourth of the male population have been monks. At the head of the government there have been successively fourteen Dalai Lamas, spiritual rulers, assisted by wordly and monastic government officials. Most of the districts and villages were governed by at least one monastic authority. The laity was devout and all its life was centred round its religion. Religious mantras like Om Mani Padme Hum could be seen chalked on the mountain sides. Stone heaps, prayer flags and chortens dotted the countryside. A mantra is an invocation to a deity. The language used for invocations is Sanskrit and not Tibetan. Om Mani Padme Hum is the mantra directed to Avalokitesvara, the divine protector of Tibet. A chorten is a bell-shaped monument built over the relics of a Saint.

Thus the history of medicine in Tibet is closely connected with the history of Buddhism. This was introduced mainly from India where it had flourished from its inception in the sixth century B.C. onwards. The Buddha Gautama Siddhartha, its founder, had collected round him the first community of monks. These had a large lay following, and the Buddha’s teachings were preserved by oral tradition until the Fourth Buddhist Council in the first century B.C. By then it had spread to South East Asia, i.e. Ceylon, Burma, Thailand and Cambodia. When written down the Buddhist Canon comprised three main divisions: the Vinaya (monks’ rules), the Sutras or discourses of the Buddha in the form of stories, and the Abhidharma qt philosophical and psychological treatises. The forms used here are the Sanskrit ones. The language used in the Southern School or Hinayana Canon, generally regarded as the earlier one, was Pali. In Pali SUtra is Sutta and Abhidharma is Abhidhamma. For, though Pali Buddhism probably preceded Sanskrit or Mahayana Buddhism, the Pali language is a Middle Indian grammarians’ language derived from dialects ultimately going back to Sanskrit, (r after consonants was assimilated to the preceding consonant in Pali.) About the first century B.C. the beginnings of the Northern or Mahayana School of Buddhism were probably taking shape in India. The Canon remained similar, with additions of a devotional and philosophical character. The Mahayana spread from India to Tibet, Mongolia, China and Japan. In the twelfth century A.D. it was driven out of India by advancing Mohammedanism and by other factors such as Hinduism resenting the equality given to persons of different walks of life and to women in Buddhism.

Just as the Mahayana had been an extension in metaphysical speculation and spiritual practice of the Hinayana, Buddhism when translated into the Tibetan language and mentality again underwent a change or, at least, an extension of range.

The Tibetan language belongs to the Tibeto-Burmese group but there is no longer much similarity with Burmese. Tibetan has many loan words from the Chinese. It is a chiefly monosyllabic language with agglutinative features such as a few word endings. It also shows what in Germanic languages is termed ablaut and gradation, i.e. vowel and consonant changes in different tenses of the verb. Its most conspicuous characteristic are the clusters of consonants at the beginning of most syllables. These are no longer pronounced and a system of pitches or tones has been introduced to distinguish words that have become phonetically homonyms through this. It is interesting to note that our knowledge of the structure and pronunciation of ancient Chinese is largely based on Tibetan, with its literary documents dating from the seventh century A.D.* These documents were transcribed in an alphabetic script based on the Sanskrit devanagari. From this and from rhymes scholars now conclude that Chinese has a disyllabic inflected past.

In the transliteration of Tibetan names and titles the usual method, derived from the customary spelling of Old Irish, has been adopted. The beginning of the stem of a word is shown by a capital letter while the preceding consonants remain in lower case. In compounds only the first stem is made to begin with a capital. The distinction between capital and small letters or the indication of compounds by hyphens does not exist in the Tibetan script as used in block prints. Every syllable is divided by a dot from the next, equally whether compound or not.

♦ Cf. F. Bodmer, The Loom of Language, 1941, p. 441.

The main extension of the Mahayana in Tibetan Buddhism is its ritualistic aspect, the Tantra. The practice of medicine by members of the Order of Monks has been discouraged in Hinayana Buddhism but in the Mahayana with its great stress on compassion it had become an important part of the curriculum, e.g. at Nland University in India. In Tibet, too, the great physician-saints were monks, and the giving and taking of medicine was always accompanied by prayers. The teaching and learning of a new medical text was accompanied or introduced by a ritual and a consecration.

The teachings are handed down from teacher to pupil and in the case of physicians’ families, just as in ancient Greece, from father to son. There are, in this way, two types of lineage, to which can be added a third kind of continuity: rebirth in human form after death. There are six different realms where one can be reborn: that of the hells, the hungry ghosts, the animals, the human beings, the Asuras or titans and that of the gods. The final goal, Nirvana, is to transcend all six realms. Rebirth is conditioned by karma, the law of cause and effect. Each action and each thought have their effect in the future. The Bodhisattva, the Saint of the Mahayana, is able to cause himself to be reborn where he is needed. In this way, gYu-thog reappears within his lineage several times and so do others of his relatives and teachers and pupils.

The technique used in the telling of gYu-thog’s biography is that of prophecy and ‘flashback’ so that events do not always follow a temporal sequence and often are retold or recapitulated from a different point of view. Prophecies are often made in dreams, and it is interesting to remember that Galen’s father destined him for the medical profession after Asklepios had appeared to him in a dream. Galen himself, too, when faced with a difficult medical decision, is reputed to have been given advice in his dreams.

A few recurring terms ought to be explained. They are translated in Sanskrit rather than Tibetan as they will be familiar in this form to some readers. The ‘Three Jewels’ invoked at the beginning of most ceremonies are the Buddha, the Teaching (Sanskrit Dharma) and the Community (Sanskrit Samgha) of Saints. The assembly listening to the recital of a medical text or sermon is usually composed of brahmins, rishis, spiritual heroes and dakinis. The term brahmin has been taken over from Hinduism.

Rishis are wise ascetics living alone in the woods. Spiritual heroes are Bodhisattvas, that is Saints who undertake the dangerous and painful task of leading beings towards Nirvana. They can take on any form they wish, human or non-human. Dakinis are their female counterpart and they help those who meditate. They are recognizable by certain marks, and in gYu- thog’s story we encounter a girl who is a dakini without knowing it. This can be explained by the law of karma according to which somebody may be ready for a saintly career through efforts made in former lives.

There are also the great Bodhisattvas who are the embodiment of principles such as Avalokitesvara of Compassion, Manjusri of Wisdom, Vajrapi of Power, and so on. These can send out innumerable emanations of their body, speech and mind, and also may appear momentarily in ordinary human beings while their consciousness is elevated to great heights.

Then there are gods and goddesses, ghosts and demons, all seen or otherwise perceived at certain stages of meditation or in certain states of consciousness. One of the chief protagonists among the ancestors of gYu-thog is the goddess Yid-hphrog-ma who planted the first medicinal herbs. She is comparable to the Greek Demeter who planted the first blade of corn and sent out Triptolemos to carry her gift to the farthest corners of the world. Both of them are connected with initiation ceremonies.

Another, even more archaic, aspect of Yid-hphrog-ma is the goddess rDo-rje Phag-mo (Sanskrit Vajravarahi) who wears a sow’s head at the side of her head, and she is worshipped together with the god rTa-mgrin (Sanskrit Hayagriva) who wears a horse’s head beside her own. Again one is reminded of Demeter to whom the pig was sacred and who was pursued by Poseidon, and to Poseidon the horse was sacred. It seems possible that in prehistoric times, in the region between Asia Minor and Central Asia, a cult of two such theriomorphic deities existed which spread to East and West.

While passages on pharmacology, surgery, medical ethics etc. are immediately intelligible to the Western reader, a word of explanation is perhaps needed on the philosophy underlying Tibetan medical thought. According to Aristotle, one of the fathers of Western science, matter is only potential unless impressed by form. Mahayana Buddhism goes further and says form, too, is empty of selfhood because it will always depend on something else: the eye of the beholder, the surrounding space, the mind that thinks it, etc. Therefore, all phenomenal existence is, as far as we can cognize it, Emptiness (Sanskrit SUnyata). About the Reality—of which Emptiness is the aspect intelligible to the human mind—nothing can be said.

Note on the transliteration of Tibetan words: n is pronounced like ng in English ‘ring’. zh was originally pronounced like s in English ‘leisure’, but is now pronounced like sh. The different spelling shows the etymological difference, ts’ is pronounced as in English ‘cats’ home’. Sanskrit s is pronounced sh. Where sh is used in Sanskrit it corresponds to a different character.

History of Tibetan Medicine

IN THE golden age when human beings had come into existence they, for a long time, did not have to eat material food but lived in samadhi* There was neither sun nor moon nor stars for they themselves emitted light. There existed no words for night and day. They had miraculous powers, were able to fly through the air and had beautiful bodies. They lacked nothing and lived as if they were in heaven. One day one man ate the bitumen on the ground because of a habit acquired in a former life. Then he suffered from indigestion and suffered a great deal. He wailed and lamented. Brahma heard about it and felt compassion and thought: ‘How could one cure this?’ He remembered the medical text taught by the great Buddha Sha-kya Thub-chen* in which it is recommended to drink boiling water in order to cure digestive diseases. He taught the sick man to drink boiling water, and he was cured. Therefore they say that the first disease was indigestion and the first sick being was human and the first medicine was boiling water and the first doctor was Brahma.

After the passing of the Golden Age, when people had been alive for aeons, their span of life began to decrease and they met with an untimely death. The Devas assembled to discuss how one could find a method of preventing an untimely death. Brahma remembered the science of medicine and told them: Tn the Vedas it is said that Brahma churned the ocean and eight chalices of deathless nectar emerged from it. These were stolen by the Titans, and the Devas were downcast, and Vishnu appeared as a beautiful woman and the Titans looked upon her as their ladylove and made her guard the chalices of nectar and went to disport themselves bathing. Then Vishnu and Indra took the nectar to Indra’s palace. When the Titans returned they could not find the nectar and searched for it everywhere, and they heard it had been taken by the Devas. At a carousal of nectar held by the Devas the Titan called Rahu appeared as a Deva and took part in it. When he had drunk his share of nectar he fled. Chandra saw it and told Vishnu: ‘That is Rahu!’ They pursued him and Brahma threw his wheel and cut

* The bliss of deep absorption.

f In an earlier kalpa (aeon).

his head, but Rahu did not die because he had partaken of the nectar and he threw the wheel back again and wounded Brahma’s cheek and inflicted such pain on him that he fainted and remained unconscious for a long time. When he recovered he thought: ‘What would be the best means to heal this wound?’ At the time of the Buddha Kyapa he had heard him teach the science of Medicine and therefore the wound in his cheek emitted the sounds of the letters a and tha. These reminded him of the medicine the Buddha had taught in the world. Remembering it he composed the text called gSo-dpyad hBum-pa (100,000 lokas on Medicine). He taught it to his disciple sKye-rgu’i bDag-po Myur-ba and to the two doctors amongst the Devas, Tha-skar-gyi-bu Ris-med and Lhag-bchas, the two divine physicians, sons of the Avinis. These two handed it down to Indra. Indra passed it on to rGyun-shes-kyi-bu who handed it on to Than-la-hbar, and he to dKah- gnyis sPyod, and he to Mu-khyud-hdzin, and he to bShol-hgro-skyed, and he to Me-bzhin-hjug, and he to Lug-nag, and he to rGya-skegs sna. Each of these great Devas wrote a commentary called Tsa-ra-ka sde-brgyad. Through these great Deva-Rishis the science of Medicine came gradually down from the gods into the human world, to the king of Benares, and the teaching was called the divine Brahma system. This is the first appearance of Medicine in the human world.

The Buddhist account of the origin of Medicine is sis follows: We believe that, just as the third Buddha Kyapa taught Medicine in a past aeon, in this fortunate kalpa the Buddha Sakyamuni, the fourth of the thousand Buddhas, after delivering his First Sermon at Samath, taught the medical text called Vimalagotra. In the medicine chapter of the Vinaya the Buddha also said: ‘A sick bhikkhu* (monk) should consult a doctor and take the medicine given to him.’ The third chapter in the Vinaya gives instruction in the downward-moving and a few other exercises. Moreover, while the Buddha was staying in the Jeta-grove and many bhikshust were thin and pale from the autumn fever he asked them to take medicines. But they took them only at the prescribed times for meals and not out of turn. They did not recover and still looked pale and thin. Therefore he permitted them to take medicines at other times of the day and said: ‘For this reason I will permit that bhikshus can take medicines at any time.’

The Buddha is said to have taught Brahma the gCher-mthon Rigs-pa'i brGyud in 3500 chapters. Others say he taught it in the coconut country to Sariputra and Ananda. According to the gSer-hod Dam-pa. he also taught Medicine. This deals with the subject of the body, the cause of diseases, diet, at

♦ Pali form.

+ Sanskrit form.

what season what diseases are prevalent, during what season what medicines and what diet are to be used, and the time when the three diseases arise: those of air, those of phlegm and those of bile, how to treat them, the combination of two or three diseases, how to recognize combined and mixed diseases, and so on. Moreover, specially for the sake of the sick and of future disciples, he appeared as the Medicine Buddha and taught the rGyud-bzhi at ITa-na- sdug. But some people, for instance Bi-byi, say that the ITa-na-sdug where the Buddha taught Medicine is the same as Indra’s palace in the King of the Mountains.*

sTon-mi Nyag-hug-pa gDon-nag and his followers say: ITa-na-sdug is one part of the place of the Buddha which is called Gans-chan mTs’o-skyes. But the majority believe that the stay in ITa-na-sdug refers to the four years the Buddha is reported to have lived in the medicine junglet which must have been situated in Uddiyana. In that jungle there was a mountain plateau created by the Buddha, on which the Buddha created ITa-na-sdug. Countless Devas, Rishis, Buddhists and non-Buddhists surrounded him. He knew everything that went on in all his disciples. At the same moment when he intended that the Wheel of Medical Science should be turned he appeared as the Medicine Buddha and immediately fell into the Samadhi called ‘Expelling four hundred and four diseases’. To herald in the appearance of his emanation, different coloured rays came out of his chest shining in all directions and drove away the diseases of all beings and then sank back into his chest. Then the rishi, called Lord Rig-pa’i Ye-shes, came out of his chest. He stayed in the sky in front of the Medicine Buddha and his attendants. Then he addressed them thus: ‘Friends, all those who wish that people should be healthy and live a long life and if they fall sick that they should be cured ought to learn the Science of Medicine. Because health is of the first importance in any undertaking; all those, too, who want to meditate and reach Nirvana and those who want wealth and happiness ought to learn the Science of Medicine.’ Then rays of light issued from the Medicine Buddha’s tongue and drove away the diseases of all beings and then sank back into his tongue. Then the great Rishi Lord Yid-las-Skyes appeared and made his obeisance to the Medicine Buddha and his emanation Rig-pa’i Ye-shes (‘Wisdom of Knowledge’). He circumambulated them three times and then sat down in the sky in front of them, with his hands making the request gesture, and he said: ‘Great Lord Rig-pa’i Ye-shes! You said one should learn the Teachings of Medicine. All these attendants here want people to be happy. So can you, please, tell us how we can learn it?’ And

♦ Mount Meru.

f Mentioned in the Bye-brag bShad-mdzod Chhen-mo.

then he taught them the rGyud-bzhi with its 156 chapters, by the method of question and answer. While the deva attendants heard it as the medical text called gSo-dpyad hBum-pa (100,000 slokas on Medicine) and the Buddhists heard it as the text Rigs-gsum mGon-po (About the Three Protectors of Knowledge) and the Rishis heard it as the medical text called rTsa-ra-ka sDe-brgyad (Sanskrit Charaka-ashta-varga) and the Hindus heard it as the text about Mahadeva: dBan-phyug Nag-po'irGyud* (Treatise of Mahadeva), only Yid-las Skyed understood the meaning of the whole rGyud-bzhi. The other three heard it as the medical text commensurate with their knowledge. The perfect rGyud-bzhi was written down in 5900 Slokas with vaidurya ink on sheets of pure gold. The original text is believed to be kept in the Dakinis’ place in Uddiyana.

The rGyud-bzhi consists of four treatises: the Root Treatise (rTsa-rgyud) which tells everything concisely, the bShad-rgyud, Commentary Treatise, which explains it in detail, the Man-nag rgyud, Information, which gives a detailed explanation and information on the practice, and the Phyi-rgyud, Last Treatise, which gives an explanatory account so as to make it easy to practise all the three.

In the History of Medicine written by Bra-ti during the turning of the third wheel, the Buddha Sakyamuni taught the medical treatise called Shel-gi Me-lon (Crystal Mirror) containing fifty chapters. The hjam-dpal sNyin-rje Zur-thig (Essence of the Heart) says that the Bodhisattva Majur composed a text on the treatment of head injuries called mGo-bchos bDud-rtsi'i Lhun-bzed (Bowl of Nectar for Head Treatment) and a text on chest surgery and other medical treatises, and that the Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara composed a treatise on general surgery called dPyad-gches gzun (Precious Treatment) and others, and that the Bodhisattva Vaj-rapani composed a treatise on anatomy and others, and that the Bodhisattva Tara composed a treatise comprising 120 chapters on how to grow herbs and medicinal plants and another treatise on how to mix those herbs. Therefore they are called Treatises According to the Bodhisattvas’ Methods.

In the same way it is said that the following Treatises According to the Devas’ Methods were written: Brahma composed the medical text called Gu-na sha-stra and another text called gSan-ba'i sNyin-po'i Don-bsdus-pa (Collection of the Secret Essence).

Among the Treatises According to the Rishis’ Method is the hPhrul-gyi Me-lon (Mirror of Transformation) composed by the Rishi sKye-rgu-’i bDag-po (Skt. Prajapati). The two sons of the Rishi Asvinis, called Tha- skar-gyi Bu, composed the Gches-bsdus (Selected Essence) and the Byan-khog

♦ Skt. Krshpa-Tsvara-tantra.

Khrims-kyi Lun-hod hPhro-ba (Precepts Radiating from the Valley of Light on the Inside of the Body). The goddess of Medicine called Nor-rgyun-ma (Stream with Jewels) composed the Rim-po-che hPhren-ba (Garland of Precious Stones).

The human Rishis were believed to have received the Teaching from the seven spiritual sons of a Deva-Rishi, a disciple of Indra. Their names were: rGun-shes* (Grapes of Wisdom) (Skt. Kratu), Hod-gzer-chan-ma (She with the Golden Light, Marichi), Hod-yan (Perfect Light, Angiras), Yan-lag- skyes (Skt. Pulaha), IHa-min-hjoms (Conquering Gods and Men, Skt. Atri), mChhod-sbyin-chan (Honoured with Gifts, Skt. Vasishta), gNas- bjog (Skt. Pulastya).

Later there were eight descendants of the Devas, with a human mother. Their names were: rGyun-shes-kyi Bu (Skt. Atreya) (Son of the Stream of Wisdom), Me-bzhin-hjug (Skt. Agnivesa) (Fire Face), Than-la-hbar (Skt. Dhanvantari) (Blazing Steppe), dKah-gnyis-spyod (Double Accomplishment in Suffering), Mu-khyud-hdzin (Skt. Nimindhara) (Surrounding Boundary), hGro-skyon-gi Bu (Son of the Protector of Beings), Nam-so-skyes (Born during the Seventh Lunar Mansion), and gShol- hgro-skyes (Born Walking behind the Plough). They composed one medical Commentary each which they had heard from Indra. The collection is called rTsa-ra-ka] sDe-brgyad.

The Rishi dPal-ldan hPhren-ba wrote a commentary on the first part of the rTsa-ra-ka sDe-brgyad called bsTod-hgrel-nyi Zla-sbar-bkab (Clearer than the Moon and the Sun) and another commentary called sMad-hgrel hPhrul- gyi IDe-mig (Miraculous Key for the Commentary on the second part of the rTsa-ra-ka-sDe-brygad). Both together comprise 600 chapters.

Slihotra, Legs-thos (Skt. Suruta), Za-las-rgyal-ba and other Rishis living before and after the Buddha Sakyamuni have written and spread many medical texts. They came down to the famous and learned doctor of Taxila, whose name was rGyun-shes-gyi-bu (Son of the Stream of Wisdom) (Skt. Atreya) who was the Court Physician of King Pad-ma-dpal. His disciple, hTs’o-byed-gzhon-nu, Sanskrit Kumara-jiva, was born as the son of King Bimbisara and a trader’s wife. Grown up, he saw one day a group of white-clad men and he asked his father: ‘Who are they?’ He said: ‘These are called doctors and they protect people from diseases.’ As the result of his past karma hTs’o-byed-gzhon-nu was filled with the wish to become a doctor too and he asked his father for permission. He wanted to learn from Rgyun-shes-kyi-bu (Stream of Wisdom’s Son). King Bimbisara sent him

* Perhaps misprint of rGyun-shes (Stream of Wisdom, Continuing Wisdom).

t Tibetanized version of the name Charaka.

to Taxila with a letter to its King Pad-ma-dpal* (Glorious Lotus) asking him to help his son when learning under the guidance of rGyun-shes-kyi-bu. His teacher taught him the rudimentary part but hTs’o-byed-gzhon-nu learned very fast and soon learned more than what he was taught. Once accompanying his teacher on his round of patients, they came to one patient to whom the teacher gave a medicine. hTs’o-byed-gzhon-nu, knowing that he had not been given the right medicine and not wanting to say so in front of teacher and patient, went back afterwards and told the patient his teacher had asked him to give him a second medicine and not to take the first one. He used a diplomatic and polite way, avoiding offending the teacher or harming the patient. Later rGyun-shes-kyi-bu asked the patient how he was now and the patient answered: ‘I am much better now’. The teacher said: ‘You have still to go on taking the medicine’, and the patient said ‘Which one, the first or the second?’ The teacher said, T have not given you two medicines. What do you mean by the first and the second?’ The patient said: ‘The first one from you and the second one from hTs’o-byed.’ In this way the teacher found out that he had made a mistake and he was very pleased with hTs’o-byed and thought he was very learned. Since then he always took hTs’o-byed wherever he went.

Some other disciples were jealous and said: ‘Our teacher likes only hTs’o-byed and not us.’ And the teacher replied: ‘hTs’o-byed is really very intelligent. Of whatever I teach him he understands the finer points. None of you does. hTs’o-byed has an excellent brain.’ And he taught him everything except brain surgery. After some time a patient suffered from a brain tumour and hTs’o-byed made friends with him. When rGyun-shes-kyi-bu came to operate on him, hTs’o-byed was able to look on hidden in the house. After rGyun-shes-kyi-bu had taken off the scalp a tiny insect was found inside and the teacher wanted to take it out with a pair of pincers. But hTs’o-byed jumped forward and said: ‘Don’t do that! If you get hold of one of the legs, it may break off, leaving the insect inside, and damage may be done to the nerves. You should heat the pincers, then touch the insect for a moment; it will be numbed and you can take it out.’ The teacher did this and the patient recovered. Then the teacher asked his pupil to leave the country because he himself was earning his living mainly from brain surgery, and advised him to practise abroad. hTs’o-byed bowed to him and left and soon he earned enough money to send sums to his teacher repeatedly, and he always showed him gratitude and respect.

As the result of his practice hTs’o-byed-gzhon-nu was crowned ‘the king of doctors’ three times. This meant being pronounced publicly as

♦ Raja Padma r.

such by the King. He is believed to be still alive because he achieved deathlessness.

His chief disciple Nagarjuna was born in Beta, the coconut country in South India, in a Brahmin family, about 400 years after the Buddha’s death. He was converted to Buddhism and became a great Buddhist philosopher. He wrote many commentaries on the Sutras and Tantric texts and he improved medical education by writing the text sByor-ba brGya-pa (The Hundred Preparations) and gChes-bsdus (Precious Collection) and other texts.

His disciple dPa-bo was born in West Kashmir as the son of the brahmin Simhaguhya who was a great doctor. His mother’s name was Ratnasiddhi. He became a great Hindu pandita and was converted to Buddhism by Aryadeva. His Buddhist name was Acharya Avaghosha. He became a great Buddhist pandita and poet and wrote many texts on Buddhist philosophy, the Jataka about the former lives of the Buddha Gautama, and the following medical texts: Yan-lag brGyad-pa Chhen-po (Great Eight Branches) and the Yan-lag brGy ad-pa-la hjug-pa (Entering the Eight Branches) and Yan-lag brGy ad-pa" i sNyin-po bsDus-pa (Collection of the Essence of the Eight Branches) and a commentary to it, and especially when he wrote the latter there appeared many good omens all over the country for the spreading of medical science.

His disciple was a pandita from Kashmir called Zla-ba mnon-dgah (Abundantly joyful Moon). He wrote a commentary on the Yan-lag brGyad- pa" i sNyin-po bsDus-pa called Ts"ig-don Zla (The Moon Ray of the Meaning of Words) and a dictionary of the names of the medicines mentioned in it called Ts'ig-don sGra-sbyor (Thz Meaning of Wordsand Syllables Illuminated), and others. He became so to speak the crown jewel of all doctors in India.

To Tibet during the reign of King Lha-mtho-ri gnyan-brtsan, the twentyfifth king of Tibet, two doctors came from India: Doctor Bi-byi dGah-byed and Doctor Bi-lha dGah-mdzes, and taught the populace some branches of Medicine, for instance, how to diagnose diseases. Before the two Indian doctors came, the Tibetans had only known some dietary rules and simple instructions like how to stop bleeding by applying hot butter.

Three generations later King hBron-gnyan Lde’u was attacked by a disease caused by demons. So he buried himself alive in a hole in the ground to prevent his descendants from contracting the disease caused by demons. His last words to his son, Prince Kon-pa Kra, were an injunction to worship the text gNyan-po gSan-ba which had come down from the sky during the reign of his ancestor King Lha-mtho-ri gNyan-btsan. In this way the Buddhist teaching was believed to have appeared for the first time in Tibet. Kon-pa should invite a doctor from Ha-sha to operate on his eyes which were blind. The father also instructed him how to rule the country. The son did as he said and invited a very learned doctor who operated on his eyes with a golden instrument. Then he saw the demons living on sKyid-shod stag-mo-ri. Since then he was called Stag-ri gNyan-gzigs. During the reign of his son, King gNam-ri Sron-brtsan, a medical and astronomical text was believed to have been brought from China, but it is not clear which text it was.

Under his son, King Sron-btsan sGam-po,* the Tibetan alphabet was adapted from the Sanskrit Devanagari letters by Thonmi Sambhota who had gone